BRADENTON, Fla. — Manatee County commissioners voted this week not to add fluoride to the county's drinking water.
Patrick Shea, Director of Utilities, said that county commissioners adopted an ordinance in 1991 to begin adding fluoride to the public water system.
Shea said the county's drinking water fluoridation system has been out of service since 2021.
"The water treatment staff, maintenance staff worked diligently to try to nurse the current fluoride system back to health. There were some attempts made in late 2021-2022 to get the system back online; those efforts were unsuccessful," said Shea.
A small handful of residents spoke during public comment, including Dr. Robert Klement.
"I have practiced dentistry in Manatee County for 42 years. Two of them, I was the commission officer with the U.S. Public Health Service. I’ve seen firsthand the benefits of fluoride on tooth decay in adults and children," he said.
In 2024, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo advised against adding community water fluoridation due to the neuropsychiatric risk associated with fluoride exposure.
He pointed to several studies, including one published in 2017, which found that prenatal fluoride exposure was associated with lower IQ in both boys and girls aged six to twelve.
Commissioner George Kruse was against adding fluoride to the county's water system. He stated that the state legislature is considering a statewide ban on fluoride.
"The state is about to ban fluoride additives statewide. Senate Bill 700 is on the floor, the companion House bill is on its last committee stop. It's blowing through. It's an agriculture bill that has lots of other great stuff in there. It's going to pass, and it's going to ban this. We currently don't put fluoride in," he said.
"I am not going to authorize our utilities department to start spending millions of dollars of your money to fix a machine to start putting fluoride in a few months before the state bans me from putting fluoride in, that is bad use of taxpayer funds," he added.
Commissioners voted 5-1 not to add fluoride to the drinking water or to make repairs to the county's system.
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